his brilliant cell of six creatives, the sole Waseda graduate in a University of Tokyo hive. He read voraciously, sometimes four books a day. Under the mentorship of Odagiri he blossomed, and was encouraged to be courteously rebellious. The Japanese habit of mentorship is, to me, one of the most attractive traits of that society. Odagiri still mentors Kagami (and, indeed, mentors me!), although “mentor” in English carries narrower connotations than the Japanese word onshi which feels much more like a life-guide. But Kagami did conform to one rule. He stayed with Dentsu: for over 40 years. What was it like then for a rebellious young creative? For those in the West who are accustomed to a view of Dentsu as a bureaucratic behemoth, the answer will be very surprising: it was gloriously free. Complete freedom. Kagami just never appeared in the mornings. (“That’s really tough for me, punctuality.”) “Kagami’s life seems to have been about simultaneously conforming and not conforming: something, perhaps, that can be understood in the context of Japan, where rules – written, spoken and implicit – abound.” It’s difficult to grasp the essence of Dentsu unless you’ve worked in Japan. The best way of thinking about it is as a state-within-a-state. It is certainly not a conventional advertising agency in a Western sense. They manage everything related to communication, from TV programmes to national events such as the Olympics. As a result of this, the comfortable and mutually supportive relationship between the government, the mass media and businesses was established. Dentsu fully supported the start-up of a private TV broadcasting system. Through this effort, Dentsu built a relationship with the media beyond just placing ads; and with the government, too. Twenty-nine per cent of the media bought in Japan goes through Dentsu. Who runs the Japanese advertising awards? Dentsu runs its own advertisement awards. Who runs the Japanese advertising association? Dentsu. Who runs the Japanese Film Production Association? Dentsu. Dentsu’s product is power as much as it is creativity. For years, opponents, or even defectors (and there have been some) have wishfully talked of a Big Bang in Japanese